


Minerva's Daughter

by nox_Box13



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nox_Box13/pseuds/nox_Box13
Summary: Basically, I had a thought if Annabeth grew up as a Roman demigod. enjoy i guess....?
Relationships: Anna - Relationship, Annabeth Chase & Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	1. I Try and Kill a Guy with a Hammer

CHAPTER ONE  
I Try and Fail to Kill a Guy with a Hammer

I made a mistake…. Maybe running away in the middle of the night because I was angry with my family was a bit of an overreaction. 

Running through some dirty back alley in Richmond by the old iron works, half-starved and shivering. Because I’m stubborn and I would rather starve, die of hyperthermia or be eaten by a monster than go crawling back to my dad. 

Maybe I’ll make it out of this alive. Stranger things have happened to me. 

You see I’m not exactly normal… I don’t think I ever have been. I’d like to think I was always partially aware of this… I am rather smart for my age … or at least that’s what teachers told me… normally followed with a disappointed ‘if she applied herself’ 

My name is Annabeth, Annabeth Chase. I’m seven and a half years old and I ran away from home. I know what you’re probably thinking… I don’t really sound like a seven-year-old. Well like I said I’m not exactly normal, most seven-year olds don’t get attacked by monsters on a weekly basis. Most seven-year olds can’t ‘accidentally’ set their stepmothers’ minivan on fire (it was an accident I swear!). And I can promise you that most seven-year olds also don’t get terrorised by hordes of spiders every night when they sleep. Or maybe they do… am I being over dramatic?

I’ve never understood what made me so different from the other kids… what all this… weird stuff stemmed from. I mean Dad blames my Mother. 

Whenever anything bad happens he blames me first and foremost (of course) and then he blames her. 

I remember a time when I was suspended from my old elementary school 2 years ago for fighting… At least that’s what they told me… I don’t really remember what happened. One minute this older boy was picking on me for my dyslexia calling me names and stuff (I can hardly recall what he said), then he was on the ground with a busted lip, clutching his wrist. I had blood on my knuckles, but I don’t even remember hitting him… I just remember feeling angry. Apparently, I broke two bones in his hand, he was twice my size and 2 years older. No one could figure out how I’d done it, I couldn’t figure out how I did it. 

The principle had already suspended me then and there on the phone when they called Dad at work. He was so mad when he picked me up, I remember him cursing and swerving when a guy in an SUV cut him off on the way home seemingly forgetting I was even there (I was getting the silent treatment) “I never asked for this, I told her I never wanted this”.

‘This’ meaning me of course. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots. But I kept silent, one thing I learned was to never ask dad about my mom. He got sad, but most of the time he got angry. 

He was only young when I came into the picture, just finished his masters at Harvard about to go on with his life as an adult.

I ruined it for him. 

All I ever got told was that mom didn’t even show her face when she dumbed me on his dorm doorstep as a new-born. I’ve never met her; she’s never checked in on us or even tried to contact me. Dad won’t even tell me her name, says I’m better off not knowing. 

Part of me always wondered if she hated me as much as he did. Maybe that’s why she decided I was his problem instead of hers. 

I wouldn’t blame her I suppose… I am a difficult kid. I’ve seen it plastered all over my report cards since Kindergarten. 

‘Annabeth is a very bright but ‘troubled’ girl’

‘Annabeth doesn’t get along with the other children’ 

‘…such a smart girl who wastes her potential…’

Maybe it’s a good thing I’m too stubborn to go back. Dad and Hellen could maybe get some piece of mind that I’m not around to ruin their perfect family anymore. 

Though part of me feels guilty about not getting a chance to say goodbye to my stepbrothers… they were innocent in this whole mess… just babies. But I’d like to think I’m doing them a favour, they’re safer without me around anyways… they might get a normal childhood. Something I don’t think I’ll ever have even if I somehow survive out here. 

So now I’m stuck in this terrible situation no seven-year-old should find themselves in and you’re probably wondering what my plan is… or was…. And I wish I could tell you I had one… 

Three nights ago, after another argument, another monster that no one believed me about… Helen had said that I bring nothing but misery to her house and she wasn’t having it anymore with the boys being at risk. I remember correcting her that it’s actually my dad’s house not hers. And for some reason dad was angrier at me for saying that. Which honestly didn’t make sense, I mean he owned the house way before he met her, so it was technically his. 

I had been sent to my room after he told Helen I wasn’t ‘worth’ arguing with, looking at me like he would a problematic student in his class rather than his own daughter. I remember feeling grateful to be dismissed from my scolding I felt so small that I could sink into the floor and disappear if I had to look at his disappointed face for another second. 

On the way there I had passed Dads study, I wasn’t technically supposed to be go in there… Apparently, I’m annoying to have around when he’s grading papers, something about not needing a ‘child’s input’ on papers written by oh I don’t know children? … and he says I’m the know it all…sure old man I wonder who I got that from. 

I knew my luck would only get worse that night… the spiders… they had come more and more frequently over the last few months. 

So… I had slipped into the study thinking to sleep on the big comfy armchair dad kept in there… I’d probably get in even more trouble but… I’m already the ‘problem child’ as it is, so I thought why not…. thinking that the spiders wouldn’t find me if I wasn’t in my own room. 

Wandering over to Dads desk, I went for the big old blanket Helen kept across the back of his chair for when he fell asleep doing research when I saw them. 

No not the usual 8-legged monsters…. Pamphlets…. all spread on my dad’s desk across his stacks of ungraded papers. My ADHD got the best of me… I looked and I wished I hadn’t.

The tears I had been holding throughout the entire screaming match downstairs broke free. 

Boarding schools, Delinquent programs and Disciplinary summer camps. Every single pamphlet was a one-way ticket to exile. And reminders that he genuinely thought that this was all my fault. 

Something inside me felt like it had shattered. I felt both pain but also a numbness deep down in my chest. I thought of my father’s smiling face as he looks at Helen, the adoring way he picked up Bobby and Mattie throwing them into the air. And I tried to remember the last time he had even looked at me with anything other than annoyance and regret. 

That was the moment I decided I wasn’t doing this anymore. I wasn’t wanted here… I was a mistake after all, the product of some fling my father had had in college… everything would be better if I wasn’t here.

Suddenly the numbness faded as I stared blankly at the pamphlet for an all-girls catholic school or more accurately a convent which even offered summer accommodation for ‘special needs’ girls. Meaning brats, troublemakers and I quote ‘those who have strayed from god’. We weren’t even catholic!

And then all I felt was anger. Blind rage, that made me see red in the corners of my eyes. I felt like this when I knew I was going to do something stupid. Like I was going to do something so dangerously impulsive and not even bother to think of the consequences. 

Looking back, I don’t actually remember throwing the stale day-old cup of coffee across my dad’s desk and ruining his important paperwork. I don’t remember grabbing the hammer he had placed on the half-constructed IKEA bookshelf in the corner of the room and I certainly don’t remember using it to smash his wedding photo in the hallway leading to my bedroom. Like I was some kind of brat that belonged in those delinquent programs and reform schools.

I do remember crying, pitifully so and hating myself for it as I grabbed my school bag, flinging my notebooks across my room in my rush to empty it. I was so angry I didn’t even think as I grabbed my favourite storybook by my bed side. Myths and Monsters. As if by muscle memory. 

Nothing else but my beat-up sneakers which I threw on in my rage, I ran to my window, it overlooked our low garage which then overlooked my dad’s car parked in the driveway. I couldn’t tell you how I managed to ninja my way down without breaking a bone. 

The next thing I remember I was sprinting down our suburban street. My feet sweating and slipping in my shoes, I hadn’t even put socks on… I was still in my pyjamas. I just ran, the hammer I had used to smash the photograph still clutched in my tiny shaking hand. 

I’m starting to think that all those teachers who said I was so brilliant and smart for my age where playing some cruel joke on me when they said those things. What I did was very very stupid….

And I’m probably going to end up getting killed because of it. 

Now as I duck behind a dumpster in the alley way I’d ran into, I find the smallest space I can fit into curling up in the tiny stinky gap between a dumpster and the wall of one of the old iron factories. 

3 days later here I am still trying to make a plan, which let me tell you from experience is very hard to do when running for your life. Monsters must smell fear, because I’ve run into too many to count since then. 

Hell, I wasn’t even sure if that man that had been following me all morning had been a monster or a human… it was hard to tell sometimes. But he was scary enough to make me run ether way. ‘Stranger Danger’ alarms ringing in my skull as I did. In my 3 nights out on the streets I had experienced a lot of stuff like that, and I could only expect more to come. I looked an easy target for them, for monsters and for people as small and tiny as I was. 

I shivered against the brick wall in my little crawl space thinking of that scary old man who had asked me if I had wanted to share his sleeping bag with him under the bridge that first night after I had ran, his sinister smile made my skin crawl and I wanted to cry just thinking about the way he had looked at me. The way even I knew no grown adult should look at a child… I don’t think I had ever been so scared in my life, not even the spiders compared to the fear I had felt when he had taken a step towards me. And when he had yelling at me to come back as I fled as if my life depended on it. It probably had. 

What was going to happen to me… I couldn’t run away from the monsters (the human and non-human ones) forever. I hadn’t slept since I left home too scared of who would find me even if I closed my eyes for a second. Yesterday I had managed to grab a few free samples from a food stall by the market. Small things, two slices of apple, a few grapes barely enough to fill a hand before I had scurried away from the shop keepers reproachful look. 

This morning when I had crossed the square in the centre of town, I smelled the doughnut stand parked by the Ride-Aid I passed, and my stomach growled so painfully that it actually made me sob a little as much as I didn’t want to admit it. 

I cursed myself every night for being so stupid curled up alone in the freezing cold wondering when I was finally going to slip up and end up dead. I didn’t even take the money my aunt Natalie had mailed me on my birthday. It was still probably tucked away in my dresser. I could have made that $20 last me a while at least. Played the cute little kid spending their pocket money act. No one would have said anything, they never do.

I had thought about stealing, even if I knew it was wrong. But I quickly gave up on the idea I knew I wouldn’t get away with it, by the time I was so desperate to consider it, I already looked like a warning sign for shop keepers, the scruffy Pjs, ratty hair, unwashed face. Even if my appearance wasn’t so obviously ‘runaway child’, I probably would have gotten caught eventually, dragged into a police car and shipped straight back to my dad’s. 

Which I wasn’t going to let happen… no way. He’s probably wayyyy happier with me out of the picture, they all are. 

I leaned my head forward against the cool metal of the dumpster and I could see a distorted version of myself look back at me in the shiny surface. My features where blurry and weird in the dinged-up aluminium but I looked pale and small. Dirty, messy hair fell across my forehead curled in all sorts of directions; I was due a haircut even before I ran away although it had never made much of a difference since my hair always looked like a bird’s nest anyway. 

Here I was, Little Annabeth, small scrawny runt who would never amount to anything… Bird boned and weak, that’s what I saw when I looked at my reflection and I hated it… I think in that moment I hated myself more than ever. 

Honestly the only thing I had ever actually somewhat liked about myself was my eyes, some of the kids at school had said that they were creepy, and adults said they made them uncomfortable. But that’s what made me like them. Sharp steely grey, no hints of blue or green, just pure grey. I remember a vague memory of one of my dads’ female co-workers once saying it was a shame, I didn’t inherit his blue eyes; I would have looked like a little angel. Apparently the very un-angelic scowl I had given her straight afterwards had changed her mind about that, I don’t recall her ever saying it again. 

But now in this moment I looked truly pathetic I could see the tired rings under my eyes even more prominent than after sleepless nights of spider attacks. Maybe I was imagining it, but I looked even smaller (if that was even possible) maybe the beginnings of the hunger setting in. Hollowing out my face, making me look like some very well CGI’d ghost girl from a horror movie. The big round owlish eyes didn’t help that horror vibe ether if I’m honest… 

As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly and I clutched my hand to it, it hurt. I was so hungry it hurt. 

It was only a matter of time until the exhaustion caught up with me. If I couldn’t run, I’d be easy picking for anyone who wanted to try. My arm gripped around the dirty canvas of my backpack, the hardback cover of my book sticking into my bony forearms through the fabric. 

I had to do something… I had to think. How could I make it out of here? Maybe I could train hop? Maybe play the scared little kid, get a free ride from some nice lady to somewhere else? Maybe I coul-

The sound of footsteps startles me. I sit ridged up right my back flat against the wall. I count to 30 and hold my breath, listening to the pound of more than one set of feet thunder down the concrete of the iron works echoing against the tall brick walls. 

Blood was thumping in my head and I tried to keep myself from hyperventilating. After a moment they stopped, unfortunately they hadn’t faded, just stopped. I couldn’t hear anything, but alarm bells were ringing in my skull. My fingers twitch and I have to mentally stop my leg from bouncing. I felt like an animal backed into a corner scared and helpless. If I was found here cornered in this tiny crawl space, I was dead. 

Slowly I push my backpack off my lap careful to not make a sound, pushing it back into the small crawl space and my other hand curls around the hammer still in my lap. I creep forward on my knees. The hard-concrete rubs painfully against the flannel material of my tattered PJ bottoms but I ignore it. I peer between the gap, keeping myself in the shadows for once thankful of my scrawny size, I’m practically invisible! I couldn’t see anyone, nor could I sense any immediate threat. 

I liked to think of my ADHD as a sixth sense sometimes. Being able to feel danger, like my body knew automatically when to run and my instincts would take over. Honestly though that was probably just my brain trying to convince me a wasn’t such a freak. 

The only sound I could hear was the faint traffic from the busy construction yard not far away. I counted again this time to 60, waiting, not chancing anything. 

Still nothing. But I felt uneasy and I had the impulse to leave my small crawl space, move on quickly and not test my luck any more than I already had. If that man I ran from earlier had found me I was in trouble. I remember vividly seeing blazing red eyes staring at me from under his baseball cap. No, I wasn’t taking that chance of another encounter. 

I slowly move back still on my knees and felt behind me blindly, until I found the strap of my bag with the tips of my fingers. I kept my eyes on the entrance to the alley way as I slowly pulled it towards me. 

That was a mistake. When I had shoved my bag back into the crawl space it had pushed up against the corrugated metal that had been dumped there against the bricks and the aluminium frame. When I pulled the strap, sheet slipped slightly and tapped against the metal of the dumpster.

Ping!

Oh no… oh no no no… I was sure my heart stopped for a second as the metallic sound bounced around the alley way. It was loud, alarmingly so. 

Stupid! Stupid! I froze and didn’t move. Praying that whoever those footsteps had belonged to had already moved on. 

They hadn’t. 

I strained my ears, and I heard it after a moment of silence. A muffled voice. Then another, it sounded closer than I had expected. Around the corner of the brick wall. I finally understood what animals felt like in hunting season. I was cornered. They had me… this was it. 

I couldn’t hear them, but I knew they had found me, they were creeping on me slowly. Every instinct in my body told me so. What could I do? I could bury myself further into this crawlspace stay still and silently hope that whatever it was, was human and eventually leave. But my instincts told me to run. If it was a monster, they’d smell me and no matter where I hid, I was dead meat. 

I grabbed my bag, deciding to run was the safest option. I took a breath and pulled it fully free from the metal sheet. 

CLANG

It was even lounder than the last. Cringing my fingers curled around the wooden handle of my hammer as I manoeuvred myself from my knees into a crouch. I would have to run towards the voices. The alley was a dead end. My only option was to run straight towards them. I prayed I was fast enough and small enough for them not to grab me as I fled. 

I never got the chance however, two humanoid shadows appeared creeping along the wall towards me. I had been flanked from the shadows. That’s it I was dead; my body began to tremble. I could smell them now. The stench of monsters, sulphur and ash filled the alley as they crept closer. There was something else about them, something different than the normal monsters, a power that made my skin tingle like the air was statically charged. It screamed danger. 

All my options were slowly evaporating…

I would have to fight… chances are what ever monster was creeping up on me was bigger, stronger and not half starved to death. My only weapon was this tiny hammer. I had no choice, fight or flight… and the option of flight had been taken. Tears stung in my eyes. I didn’t want to die…

C’mon Annabeth be brave! Don’t cry don’t cry! Fight! 

I felt a weight grip the edge of the dumpster, it was light but pushed the rusted wheels slightly and my legs tensed, my fingers turning white with how tightly I was gripping the hammer. 

Light came pouring into the crawl space and I leaped forward swinging my hammer for what I assumed would have been the monsters head. 

It was, and I would have been on target had a hand not grabbed my wrist with un-human speed. My heart stopped as the shock of it made me loose grip of my weapon and it went flying from my hand and clattered to the ground far from my reach. 

“-Woah!” a shaky voice called out and I heard the sound of metal moving. My eyes couldn’t process what was exactly happening in the moment. My instincts had fully taken over. Panic mode was in full swing. I screamed and kicked and fought against the seemingly iron grip. 

“No! Leave me alone!” I screeched as loudly as I could, maybe someone would hear me maybe I wouldn’t die here alone and become some monster’s meal. “Go away! HELP!”

The one that held me gripped tighter almost painful on my wrist as it held on to me its owner dodging my fists and legs. 

I caught sight of the other monster and I screamed louder when my eyes landed on the horrifying face of bronze directly in my eyesight. 

The snaked hair and fangs bared, it stared at me unmoving and my blood turned to ice. For a split second it was as if I had turned to stone. That face, something about that face made every single cell in my body turn cold. 

RUN! Run NOW!

“It’s okay!” the first monster shouted. A boy, at a glance he looked double my age, maybe 15. Shaggy blonde hair stuck in my vision (I knew better than to trust him monsters looked human, but they weren’t!). So, I screeched like a feral animal when his other hand reached forward a glowing bronze dagger glinting in its grip. 

“NO!”

I lifted myself up pulling upwards towards the hand that gripped my wrist with a strength I hadn’t known I had possessed and sunk my teeth into the exposed pale wrist. Hard. I tasted blood. And the stench of sulphur filled my nose. I wasn’t sure where the instinct had come from, but I felt feral. Like all my rational thought had been thrown out of the window and I was in pure survival mode. I wasn’t thinking. Which was very dangerous for me…as we have already learned. 

The male monster howled in pain dropping me and the knife by pure reflex. The bronze woman (I didn’t look I wasn’t making that mistake again) screamed, and I heard movement, knowing she was coming for me now. Instantly I kicked out. The boy was distracted, his lightning reflexes weren’t as fast this time. I land a kick to his shin, it looked hard and it must have hurt because he yelped, I wasn’t even sure how I had managed something with such strength. 

I felt charged with the adrenaline flooding my veins. Dashed on my hands and knees like an animal through his legs and slipped my fingers around the handle of the knife he had dropped. A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and I swung at it connecting with the forearm it was attached to with the hilt of my new weapon. 

CRACK

After a screech of pain from the monster I was released. I scrambled to my feet and ran from the alley way. 

I ran so fast that I could feel sweat dripping down my face and my lungs burnt. Out of the Iron Works and then god knows where I hardly acknowledged the truck that came flying past me. Was barely an afterthought in my mind. The panicked HONK rang in my ears.

I ran for what seemed like an eternity until I collapsed against the unfamiliar grass that was under my feet. I barely was conscious of where I was. I crawled forward when my legs refused to support my weight dragging myself towards a vaguely treelike shape until my eyes refused to open anymore. There’s a blank spot in my mind after that.


	2. The Talking Wolf Was an Unexpected Surprise If I'm Honest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So i Have a backlog of content... enjoy?....

When I wake up, I can hardly process where or who I am. I try and open my eyes, but I can’t. I can feel every muscle in my body scream as I lie there. I’m defenceless, a free meal for any monster who comes across me. 

I scramble to collect my thoughts. And with a dread I realise that I don’t know why I’m on the ground like this. 

There’s grass underneath me it’s soft and my tired body screams at me to fall back to sleep, I don’t, my fingers stretch, and I automatically go to grab for the strap of my bag and my heart stops for a moment. This seems to be the very thing I needed, pure panic. 

I sit up violently fast and I feel leaves scrape through my already tangled hair. I freeze and stop positioned awkwardly half sat up half lied down; my starving stomach screams at me as it tenses by the action. 

My bag… Where is my bag? My thoughts feel jumbled and I must be half asleep still as I frantically try and remember what happened and where I am. But it feels like my brains gone through a blender. 

I was in an alley, running from… a monster… maybe? 

Yeah that sounds about right. I squeeze my eyes shut tighter and lie back down trying to collect the thoughts bouncing around in my head. 

I was hiding… someone no two someone’s found me. They got me; I lost my hammer. A boy and a girl… the girl, that face… the snakes … the fangs … so heart stoppingly hideous no Hollywood makeup artist could ever recreate it. Or even get close to how terrifying it had been. 

Just remembering that face almost sends me into a panic again I force myself to stay still as my body still screams for rest. But my leg begins shaking against the ground and I can’t stop it. 

I fought, bit the boy’s hand. 

My tongue runs over my lips automatically and I taste blood, and a sick feeling in my gut tells me it’s not my own. 

He dropped me; I grabbed his knife…. The girl, she grabbed me… I hit her. 

I am dimly aware now of one of my hands still clutching the dagger loosely. I must have passed out still holding it. 

Glowing in the dim light the metal it was made out of was unlike anything I had ever seen before, bronze coloured and leaf shaped? it was as long as my forearm. The edges looked wicked sharp. Something that a seven-year-old should really not be trusted with. 

Looking at the shimmering light it admitted made me feel dizzy. My eyelids feel like they weigh a million pounds, but I force them to stay open even as everything goes blurry for a few moments. 

After a few seconds my eyes focus again on the dark distorted shapes above me, and I can vaguely make out the outline of trees, the moonlight shining off of them. I’m in the woods? 

No way!

How? 

I can’t be… I had been in the middle of Richmond… in an industrial area… there’s no woods for miles. I couldn’t have run that, far could I? I was starved and exhausted…

Though maybe I did… I’ve done stranger things before like fight off two monsters while in the same state. The knife feels heavier than before in my grip, I flex my fingers against the soft leather of the handle and feel weak. 

I can feel myself being lulled back to sleep as the peacefulness of my current location floods my senses now that my panic has begun to fade. 

The smell of earth, and trees. The soft grass below me, and the feeling of the cool summer night rare this time of year in Virginia. 

Despite the warning sirens in my head my eyes fall shut again, this is nice. I don’t feel like I’m in danger for a moment. I feel safe and tired… oh I’m so tired… maybe 10 more minutes and I’ll be able to collect my thoughts. Yeah 10 minutes sounds good. I’ll make a plan when I wake up.

I sink into unconsciousness, dimly aware of anything else besides the heaviness of my eye lids. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
I dream of a tall woman, her back towards me as she stands on an elegant terrace, the moon above her glows down and her pitch-black hair seems to shimmer in the light … I try and speak but I cannot. It’s as if I was there but I wasn’t. When the woman speaks though, I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to me or to herself. 

“I tried to help you” she sighed, her hands which looked strong and steady trace the lines in the marble on the balcony wall. “I thought you would go with them”

Her voice is… kind of familiar, elegant and rich, maybe…a little bit aloof. But something about it made me think of the old professors my father worked with, well-spoken and self-satisfied. But it wasn’t just that, that made it so recognisable to me. Like I’d only ever heard it in a dream. 

I felt the urge to sit up straight and apologize “yes, ma’am sorry, ma’m”. 

I can’t obviously. When she turns to me, I feel like I know her. But I had never seen this woman before in my life. Olive skin, high cheekbones, strong jaw and a proud brow. Beautiful in a classic way, like you’d see some rendition of her face on a million statues, or illustrations in history books. 

But it’s her eyes that strike me more than anything. They draw your attention straight away; piercing would be an understatement but it’s the only word I can think of that would fit. Well… maybe scary or un-nerving would be pretty accurate too. 

I think of the thunderstorms we have in winter, the dark swirling clouds in news footage of hurricanes, deadly but beautiful. They scare me, unreasonably so, when I realise, they are the exact same shade of grey as my own.

But yet so different. 

Meaner, something about them that made me feel unwelcome and small. 

Part of me wondered if I looked like that to other people. If I could have ever looked so cold and calculated.

I felt no warmth when I looked at her, but something inside me said I could trust her. Even so I felt on edge, she didn’t appear to be looking at me threateningly. But I felt like I was in trouble. Like I was being scolded?

“You’ll have to make your own way… I’ve done as much as I can for you…” 

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but I still couldn’t speak, and I wonder if it was her doing. 

Her brow darkened as a cloud passed over the moon drowning the light momentarily. If I had control of my body, I know the hairs would have stood straight on my arms. 

The storm in her grey eyes swirled like a tornado, it was almost pretty in a terrifying kind of way. 

Her voice when she spoke again was even colder than before, panic spread through me like a wildfire. I had never felt more scared in my life than I had in that moment.

“Do not disappoint me” 

When I wake up my eyes flutter open as my brain reboots itself. The first thing I see isn’t the beautiful sunny sky, or the trees above me. It’s a pair of harrowingly silent golden eyes. My body tenses and I’m frozen like that staring back wide and panicked. The eyes are staring down directly above me are that of an animal. A wolf if I could guess by a glance.

Yet, I find myself staring at this great powerful beast and I relax, my instincts telling me I am not in danger, which was of course insane considering I was face to face with a wolf that looked big enough to eat me whole. Something about those eyes made me think of a human, despite how distinctly animal they appeared to be. They were calming and kind they reminded me of my aunt Natalie or maybe the sweet old lady at the library who had insisted that the school should have ordered me the proper notebooks for my dyslexia.

Though all that calming energy I was feeling towards this great animal suddenly melted away in an instant. 

Hello child

Its finally happened, I’ve lost my mind. I’m hearing voices that aren’t my own… I must be tired, surely, I was imagining it. This wolf… as uncommonly large as it may be did not just talk. Surely, I can’t be that delirious. 

You are not in danger small one.

If my throat wasn’t closed up, I would have laughed. Genuinely laughed, how could things have gotten any more insane for me. The Wolf was talking to me. Its mouth wasn’t moving but it was talking. I heard its voice clear as crystal in my head. 

My name is Lupa, I will not harm you. I only wish to help. 

My hand trembles as it reaches up without my consent reaching forward on pure instinct to touch the shining silver fur it looks softer than anything I have ever seen in my life. The wolf blinks and for a moment I imagine her teeth taking my hand clean off with one bite. But she doesn’t she leans down and presses her forehead into my palm. 

I am shocked still despite the appearance of how soft and beautiful the texture of the fur feels against my fingers and immediately my fear and doubt melts away, the tremble in my hand stops. I am safe, she will not hurt me, she is trusting me I must now trust her. 

I’m not sure what prompted me to ask. But suddenly the question that had always burned deep down in my subconscious suddenly surfaced when I looked at Lupa. Like the time had finally come for me to ask it.

“What am I?” I ask, my voice sounds dry and small. 

She looks at me calmly, there’s something nurturing I can see in her gaze and I realise that’s what makes her look human. 

You are a demigod my child. And I will take you to your people. 

I don’t voice a single question even with a million racing through my mind in that moment. 

Demigod? 

My mind goes into hyperdrive, this happens quite frequently, the thoughts spiral and I physically become unable to stop thinking. Sometimes I can’t stop until I black out. 

Demigod?   
Like Half-God?   
As in God(s) are real?  
My dad? … NO WAY he couldn’t be… Ridiculous!  
But…Mom?   
Mom…   
she…   
I…  
….  
….  
WOW  
Am I even human??   
Am I like immortal??   
Some Demigods are immortal right?  
Or is that when two gods have a kid?  
But wouldn’t that make them like a full god?  
Wait…  
Which gods?  
Like Thor? Loki?   
Egyptian?  
Greek?   
From my storybooks?

‘Calm down little Half-Blood. Your questions will be answered soon’

Lupa stared at me looking…entertained? … could wolfs look entertained? I mean I wouldn’t blame her my face must be comical. 

Because… how could it not after being told that. 

Me…freaky little Annabeth who’s never done anything right her entire life, who’s scared of the smallest spiders, has dyslexia and ADHD… How could I be anything like the demigods in the story books?

Come, you need food and rest.

The wolf makes a move for me to stand and this time my body complies. Though my limbs ache I manage to get to my feet shakily. I tremble in place for a moment, my legs feel like they’re made of rubber. But I try and stand up straight, I’m not sure why I did it. Surely, I could be excused of such a thing after the news I had just heard, and especially after the last 3 days. But something about Lupa made me want to impress her, like her very presence demanded respect. Part of my delirious brain considered saluting her. But I was thankful I decided against it. 

You are strong. 

Lupa regards me for a moment. The comment pleased me; I’d been called a lot of things in my life… strong has never been one of them. Still I’m not sure if this magical wolf woman is making fun of me because right now, I have to admit I certainly didn’t feel strong. Surely, I couldn’t look strong, she tripled me in size. 

The wolf remains silent but turns and begins to walk deeper into the woods. She said she was taking me to my people, what did that mean. Other demigods? Would they be weird like me, would I actually fit in with them?

I stumble in my eagerness to follow her. 

“Where am I?” I ask, not thinking as I almost go face first onto the uneven ground. I can hear water, maybe a small stream? 

James River 

I blinked and looked around me, the thick wooded landscape, miles and miles of trees as far as I could see. How on earth had I gotten so far away, how long had I run? How was any of this possible…. 

Demigod

The word rang against my skull as I followed Lupa through the endless maze of trees. I was taken back to my earliest memories sat in my fathers lap on the couch on a weekend night listening to him as he read the stories to me. The Golden Fleece, Circe’s Island, The Odyssey…. 

Odysseus had always been my favourite hero even if he wasn’t technically Demigod. I thought of Hercules, Theseus and Perseus, those heroes whose names had been passed down from generation to generation. They where real? 

If so…

I-I was like them? ME?!

Dread filled my stomach for a moment thinking of the stories, primarily how they end. They never had happily ever after; Greek Literature was almost always a tragedy. I yearned for my backpack; the same book used to my father read to me to sleep as a baby nestled inside of it. I remembered begging him to read them to me over and over again. He had obliged, back when it was just me and him, back when he was almost a half decent dad. 

I couldn’t read the words myself, even as I got older, they jumbled together and became so confusing it made me get a headache just looking at the letters for too long because of my dyslexia. But it didn’t matter I knew every story by heart just keeping the book close to me had always made me feel warm and safe. Memories back from when my dad actually had time for me. Back when he almost seemed like he wanted me there…

Suddenly I felt cold all over. Thinking about him, thinking about the family I had left behind… no wonder I never fitted in. 

Do not blame yourself, children with your gift always have it harder than mortals. 

My head snaps up. Lupa is facing forward padding delicately over the mossy ground. Could she read my mind? Again, I find myself accepting that stranger things have happened to me. 

“Who is my mother?” I ask, staring at the tips of her ears. They look soft and I resist the urge to scratch them. I still missed Benji desperately even after 2 years. That dog seemed like the only living thing in the house that actually wanted to spend time with me. One of the reasons I never had liked Helen …. she made dad give him away. 

That is not for me to say. 

I couldn’t help it. My head rang and I picked up my pace keeping time with her four legs. Feeling energised for the first time since I fled my home. She knew, she knew! All the questions I had ever had, every horrible thing that had happened growing up, the monsters, the spiders… mom leaving me… the answers could finally be mine. The realisation had finally dawned on me. I was a demigod… I was never just a freak… 

For the first time in a long time, I felt … well… special… in a good way. Not a screw up…. Or some messed up kid destined to end up a loser….

A demigod….None of those horrible things had been my fault… maybe dad didn’t know… maybe… maybe he just blamed me cause that was the only reasonable explanation. 

“What’s her name?” I sounded desperate and excited. 

Lupa looked down at me, sympathetic towards my giddy expression. She says nothing, though I didn’t give her the chance as I continue to ramble unable to stop myself.  
“Is she like a big god or one of the smaller ones? Is that why she left me??” 

You will know in time. Be patient. 

I deflated like a balloon when Lupa looked away from me dismissively. Patience, that’s always been one thing I was bad at. Impulsive, I think is the more correct word, but I just hated waiting, why can’t I know now? I’ve done more than any 7-year-old in the world; can’t I know my mother’s name? Surely, I deserve at least that. 

Everything will be explained soon. 

The voice in my head was firm and I slumped further as we walked. She seems to know everything, and I find myself envious. She has all the answers that I had yearned for my entire life. I decide to take a chance.   
“The Greek myths are all real?” 

Lupa stops dead. She turns to me and sniffed. Her eyes nervous and the kindness was replaced with distrust. Her gaze drops to the dagger in my hand and she looks wary of me for a moment… which is insane considering our size difference. 

Roman.

I blink, staring at her eyes which suddenly bore into mine with an intensity I cannot place... 

Roman not Greek. 

The voice is stern like she’s trying to engrave the message into my mind. I find myself with a million more questions. Roman? I had never paid much attention to their myths before being drawn to the Greek ones as if by second nature. I only knew of the Norse gods from my auntie Nat telling me and my cousin Mangus about them at bedtime. 

Lupa leans towards me and pushes my arm with her nose. Almost as impatient as me. 

Keep moving we will soon catch up with the others. 

Other demigods? I kept the question to myself, aware now that she wouldn’t give me a real answer even if I asked. 

Roman… the word makes me feel uneasy in a way I’ve never experienced before. I feel… bitter? Instantly, a dislike for the just the name alone settles in my stomach. 

Lost in thought I follow Lupa towards a rocky embankment next to the stream. We followed along the shape of the water. I fight the urge to lag behind. The adrenaline and excitement I had been flooded with at the conversation about my mother, or I suppose the lack of conversation about my mother had left me. I felt tired once again. 

The path began to slope upwards as the stream began to trickle down past the larger rocks up hill. My legs burned but I pushed on, I wasn’t sure why, but I knew I didn’t want Lupa to think of me as weak. I knew I wouldn’t earn her respect if I was weak. 

We followed up current for what seemed like hours. The ache I felt never ceased but it became more bearable I think or maybe I really was delerious. Often Lupa would stop, and tell me to drink from the stream, I always did even if I was not thirsty, I knew that she knew best. 

Part of my mind kept lingering on the thought of what could possibly happen next. 

I Am Almost Eaten

It took us longer than expected but finally Lupa told me we had reached our destination.

The clearing hidden away beyond the source of the stream was stunningly beautiful, shaded from the burning sun by the canopy of monstrous trees around its edges. The ground was soft spongy moss which felt like heaven under my sore feet. 

But it was empty. Confused I strained my eyes to the scene around me. Where are the other demigods? I had so many questions…

As Lupa stopped Infront of me I almost ran into the back of her getting a face full of tail but thankfully I side stepped awkwardly ending up stood next to her puzzled. 

After a moment she let out a short howl which rang through the air, clear and crisp like a greeting. 

Another short pause, before a series of matching howls rang out from the shadows of the under bush. Slowly but surely wolves began materialising from the surrounding edges of the clearing. 

I fought the urge to hide behind Lupa, the logical part of my brain which wasn’t struck dumb with fear told me to stand strong make them see you as someone to respect rather than eat. And if I’m being honest being an early morning snack to a pack of supersized mega wolfs wasn’t particularly on my bucket list. 

New Half-Blood?

Another young one? 

Gods! What a runt! 

Won’t survive the journey….

Their voices whispered in my head and I fought the urge to grind my teeth. Lupa said she was taking me to my people not her pack. Her very judgemental pack, for that matter. All those hopes I had felt surge in my chest. ‘…your people’ she said. These wolves surely didn’t seem like my people nor did they even seem to want me… maybe I just didn’t belong anywhere I thought bitterly.

It all got worse when they approached closer. Dark coated wolf closest to size of Lupa was froze as soon as they were no more than 3 meters from us. Sniffed the air, and for a moment my heart stopped when a low threatening growl ripped from their throat. I immediately tensed. 

Graeca!

Almost immediately the rest of the wolves dropped into a low crouch, some even had their teeth bared. And I was starting to realise that I might actually become a morning snack to them. 

Traitorous!

Deceitful!

Tear her to shreds!

I was 5 seconds from bolting. But Lupa stepped in front of me in a protective stance. Her ears flat and her teeth bared at her own pack. I now see the size comparison, these wolves where big, but Lupa she was huge… 

Silence!

Her voice was frightening, and I didn’t blame some of the other wolves for tucking their tails and whimpering. If she had directed that at me, I might have peed myself. 

No one touches her….

The wolves stared, many sets of Amber and silver eyes moved from Lupa and then to me. I fought the urge to wave awkwardly, but I supressed it. There was still a strong chance I would get eaten here, or at least mauled a little. 

She’s a Graeca! The Black furred wolf cried. She cannot be trusted! She’s… she’s unnatural even for a Half-ling…

Ouch, that was kind of mean sheesh. Graeca? Graeca… Gra… Greek? I was puzzled. 

I looked at Lupa.   
“You said Roman?”

She kept her eyes on the pack.   
I did. And I will say it again…. Roman! Not Graeca…

For a moment there was silence I could see the wolves staring at one another as if in deep thought. I wondered who would break first. It certainly wasn’t going to be me. A few of the wolves had relaxed when Lupa had first called for silence, instantly falling into an obedient bow. But I could still see them eyeing me anxiously. 

The large black wolf was the only one who had held their aggressive stance. She was the one who had wanted to rip me to shreds. I repressed the lump that had formed in my throat to the back of my mind. 

Before any stale mate could be called a cry of ‘Boy!’ rang out into the silence and most of the wolves jumped. I almost yelped myself. 

The sound of crashing under bush and giggling filled the clearing.   
“LUPa!” a small voice called out. 

Bursting into the clearing ran a boy as young as me, but even more scruffy looking. He charged towards Lupa followed closely by two smaller wolves who looked panicked and anxious as they avoided Lupa’s gaze. 

The boy flung himself at the large She-Wolf boring his face which hardly reached her chest as it is in her fur. “I missed you!” he cried giddily.

I stared. Dumb folded as Lupa laughed, her eyes affectionate. 

Hello little hero

He laughed, it made me relax a little. Something about the carefree innocence of it reminded me of my stepbrothers.

The two smaller wolfs approached. 

We apologize Lupa…

The boy is barely manageable at the best of times

We will try better….

Lupa looked down at the small boy buried into her chest and sighed. He is young he will learn…

The black wolf flicked her tail annoyed. Your soft on him… too soft.

Lupa ignored the comment, she turned to me. Jason. We have another hero joining the pack today.

I blinked and stood up straight. Feeling like I needed to make myself appear big… this small boy… could he be like me?

‘Jason’ pulled his face out of Lupa’s fur and looked at me. He was definitely around my age, maybe a little younger. It was hard to tell he had such an innocence about him that made him seem younger. He smiled at me bright and filled with genuine excitement. His eyes were startingly blue, a beautiful and truly stunning shade. 

I was almost knocked back when he ran straight into me. His tiny arms completely encircling my waist. He was just as scrawny if not more than I was. The top of his head barely came up to my nose and my vison was filled with blonde hair. Which was a few shades lighter than my own. 

“I’m Jason!” he giggled. Looking up at me with an expression of pure joy... “Your special like me… I just know it!”

I wasn’t sure what to say or make of this situation. I awkwardly stood there as the boy clung to me. Glancing up at Lupa, her eyes were warmer than ever. Like she was watching her pups play. I felt embarrassed and glanced down at Jason. “…er Hi?”

His smile was dazzling. He looked back at Lupa practically bouncing with excitement. “Can I take her to look at the big rocks?! Please Lupa! Please!”

I wasn’t sure what the big rocks where, though I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on at all at the moment. I awkwardly stood there as the boy bounced around in front of me looking at Lupa with the most adorable puppy eyes I had ever seen. 

Part of me could hardly believe what my life had boiled down to. Everything that had happened the last few days, hell the last few hours seemed crazy and completely bazaar. But this boy, topped it all off. This happy carefree, genuinely child like boy was like me? Lupa had called him ‘little hero’ he was a demigod too? Maybe they weren’t all mopey troubled kids like me because Jason seemed so normal… so young and boyish. For a moment I thought not of my stepbrothers but my younger cousin Mangus… 

Lupa sighed and shook her head. “Annabeth needs rest and food she’s very tired”

Jason deflated… I felt for a moment like I should speak up, play off like it was fine and agree to go see the ‘big rocks’. He looked so sad. “I’ll go in the morning, first thing I promise”

He wipped around to me so fast it was a wonder the kid didn’t get whiplash. Staring at me with those big blue eyes I knew I couldn’t say no even if I had tried. “You Promise?”

I glanced at Lupa. Her eyes warm and… sad? In that moment she seemed ancient like she had seen a million tragedies unfold just like this. Like she was drinking in the image of me and Jason like this… like she was trying to savour it. 

Smiling, felt strange to me after the last few days, but it crawled across my face with a natural ease I hadn’t known I possessed. I looked down at Jason. “I promise”.


	3. Is One Night Of Rest Too Much To Ask For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bit shorter than the others, sadly work has been a bitch with the new year coming up.

The rest and food I were promised was about as satisfactory as you’d expect from a pack of wolves to provide. I couldn’t tell you where they had gotten what appeared to be a half-mauled bag of Doritos, I didn’t particularly want to ask. Either way the artificial cheese dust and empty calories tasted like a five-course meal for my half-starved stomach. Even if I had to take breaks in between inhaling them knowing I might throw up if I ate too fast after so long of having nothing.

All the while Jason rapid fired questions to me, sitting cross legged in the long grass. He wanted to know everything, under normal circumstances explaining the crazy, weird and frankly un-explainable details of my life would have felt strange. But not now, not with him.

Every word I said, every crazy experience and monster... Jason just nodded and let me talk.

Like, we were normal kids… discussing the latest episode of our favourite cartoon… or talking about what we had in our lunchbox…

It felt bazar… it felt surreal… like… like I was normal.

Like this entire crazy situation was normal.

When I looked at Jason over my now empty Dorito bag, I felt happy? Content? An odd mixture of the two? I wasn’t sure what it was… but I hadn’t felt like that in a long time.

As the sun began to set, a few of the wolves began moving closer, huddling together around where me and Jason sat as if they were forming some kind of barrier. It would have been comforting had it not been for the uneasy stares from a few of the pack… and the downright hostile glare from the large black wolf who had wanted to rip me to shreds.

Jason yawned and moved closer to me, I almost jumped as he practically crawled onto my lap. His head against my bony knee (I wondered how he could possibly find that comfortable). I was reminded of Benji, my old dog seeking comfort at night curled up at the foot of my bed back home. No spiders ever came for me when he was around.

Suddenly I felt a cold feeling spread over me. Thinking of home… my warm bed, a fresh set of clothes and a warm meal… I thought of my dad…

For a moment I imagined his face, staring down at me, a memory maybe… but it felt wrong. He was smiling at me… in a way I don’t think I’d ever seen him do so before. Like… like the way dads always looked at their daughters on TV. A warmth I don’t think I had ever experienced before.

If it had not been for the half-asleep boy on my lap, rambling on about all the cool things he would show me about the woods in the morning I might have curled up in a ball and cried.

Instead, I took a deep breath and tried to listen to Jason. But every word seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

Did he miss me? Was he worried about me….? Did he even notice I was gone? For a moment I allowed myself to even imagine the possibility that my father was experiencing all three at that moment…

_“Rest now strong one…”_

I felt the warmth of Lupa’s fur as she curled herself around me and Jason. My body didn’t hesitate, I leaned back soaking into the warmth and safety that she offered me.

It wasn’t until I felt that warmth that I realised the cold tears that crawled down my cheeks…

I had been crying.

_“In the morning we shall move on”_

I felt my eyes begin to flutter. Like the very sound of the She-Wolf’s voice was lulling me to sleep better than any lullaby I had ever heard. I was safe here; I was safe now.

_“In the morning you will find some of the answers you seek”_

Jason made a content sound as he curled around me into the warmth. Like a puppy cuddling its siblings in a litter.

_“Your safe now”._

This night my dreams were less lucid and more confusing than they had been in a long time.

Faceless shadows slithered around me in the darkness, their voices barely audible. I could only catch small snippets of what they said.

_‘Lupa…’_

_‘Gracea…’_

_‘…Not welcome…’_

_‘…Gods will not have this…’_

The wind in my dream felt harsh and unforgiving, like I was being pulled in two separate directions. But I couldn’t see where each path would take me. Only darkness, surrounded by these shadows who barely came close to me, as if I scared them.

While my mind was occupied, the shadows faded but the voices became clearer. Expect these voices felt more real, rather than the shallow husks of the spirits.

They were however even more haunting.

Have you ever heard a voice and it just gives you shivers? Like you feel so cold in that second you feel genuinely scared for your life?

Expect it wasn’t just one voice... it was multiple overlayed… no Hollywood audio wizard could come close to recreating the terror you would feel hearing them.

****

**_Child of Minerva walks alone…._ **


	4. I Cry On The Big Rocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So .... yeah. I've been really struggling with mental health with my work right now... but the support I've gotten so far has really pushed me to post this chapter and get back into writing more. 
> 
> Basically... I'm Sorry and here hope its decent....

Waking up that morning I had an overwhelming feeling of relief and comfort. I was warm and I was safe.

Most of the calmness I felt quickly dissipated when I opened my eyes, Jason stood above me no longer curled on my chest sleeping like a little angel he was practically vibrating with excitement. 

“Your awake!” He grinned toothily at me as I blinked at him wearily feeling sluggish and drowsy. “Come on! Big Rocks!”

For a moment I wasn’t sure what he was even taking about. I glanced around at my surroundings staring at the wolves who had awoken and were watching us with weary eyes. The sky was bright and clear, the air felt warm. But the joyful look and innocent excitement in Jason’s eyes felt much warmer and more pleasant than anything else.

I didn’t even get a chance to respond to the kid before he was grabbing me by the sleeve of my pjs and was trying to pull me to my feet…

“Woah…” I mumbled as I was yanked with more force than I had expected from a boy his size. I stumbled to my feet as he giggled excitedly.

“Come on!”

The yawn building in my throat was so strong I felt slight headed for a second after I released it. “Where’s Lupa?” I asked my voice sounded thick with sleep.

Jason didn’t respond he just kept excitedly tugging me forward towards the tree line as I stumbled to get my uncoordinated feet to respond.

_‘Jason!’_

I spun round confused, the voice was not Lupa’s. I almost ended up on the ground as the boy began to tug me more urgently.

One of the younger smaller wolfs bound forward towards us. It’s warm sandy brown coat was vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t until the beast had placed itself firmly in front of us blocking our exit of the clearing that I realised that this wolf was one of the ones who had been chasing Jason the day before.

“Arnou!!!!” Jason whined.

The wolf levelled the boy with a look that reminded me of one of the many babysitters I had made my way through over the years. ‘ _Lupa told you to wait for her to return’_

Jason threw his head back dramatically. “But…”

_‘No Buts…’_ Arnou looked at me wearily. ‘ _You can’t drag her around the woods like that…’_

I didn’t know whether to feel offended as I was looked up and down by the wolf. I mean I knew my PJs definitely weren’t the most ideal thing for a run-away demigod but well there’s no reason to be judged especially by a god damned canine of all things.

‘ _Lupa will return soon with some new clothes for… this one’_ Arnou’s gaze dropped from me and landed on Jason.

A scowl worked its way onto my face. “Annabeth” I said.

The wolf flicked an ear and looked at me quizzically.

“Annabeth” I repeated looking the much larger beast in the eye. “My name is Annabeth”

The wolf huffed lowering its head but kept its eyes locked to me. The look wasn’t inheritably hostile, but it certainly was a warning, or a test…?

I returned the gaze, standing straight feeling more awake now than I had before Jason had unceremoniously dragged me from the ground.

There was a silence that hung in the air for a second. As the wolf regarded me and I in return stared it down. I could feel the hairs at the back of my neck prickle at the memory of yesterday, when the pack had been ready to tear me to pieces before Lupa stopped them.

I knew looking away would be respectful. These wolves were of course supposed to help me get to the place I belonged with my people. I should backdown and show some respect and fear to my great beastly gradians. But I didn’t, I kept staring even when I felt Jason uncertainly tug at my arm, I kept my gaze locked.

After another moment. Arnou, sat back on their hunches, their ears flicked, and their head turned. ‘ _You are a very strange youngling’_

I blinked. “Well, you’re a talking wolf so I would say your pretty strange yourself” The words came out before I had thought to stop them.

Jason giggled. “Your funny”

I tore my eyes away from the wolf to look down at him and I felt a smile creep its way onto my face.

_‘Lupa trusts you’_ Arnou looked from me and then to Jason. ‘ _As does he. I will treat you as such myself until proven otherwise…’_

Their tail flicked slightly behind them. ‘ _…. Annabeth’_

My smile grew… I couldn’t help it. The genuine open look in the wolf’s eyes… the way they had said my name… respect. This big otherwise scary wild animal respected me… I felt proud, genuinely proud… for the first time in a long time. I revelled in the feeling, like someone had shot me with some sort of adrenaline. Glancing down again at Jason. “I guess we have to wait for Lupa first”

The smile I was given made me feel even better, genuinely. Like the horrible days that had past were nothing more than a bad dream. “Then Big Rocks?” He asked.

I nodded. “Then Big Rocks”

\-------------------------

Arnou as it turned out was Jason’s unofficial babysitter as most of the older wolves did not deal with his high level of energy very well or not nearly as well as the younger, she-wolf did.

She watched us wearily from a distance as Jason and I explored the Big Rocks around the rocky outbank that the young boy had dragged me too. I had to admit the view was nice, as we managed to scramble our way to the top of the rocks the view of the woods and River was truly worth the sweat, we had formed on the journey up.

Jason told me he liked high places, when I questioned it, he had just shrugged said he just liked them. He told me that he hoped that camp had high places for him to climb too.

“Camp?” I asked as I pushed up the sleeves of my new stolen James River memorabilia sweatshirt.

Jason nodded. “Lupa said we’ll be safe there” He pulled his knees to his chest and traced the lines in the rock with his finger. “I hope the other demigods are nice like you…”

I stared at him pensively. “Do you know much about this camp?”

“Lupa doesn’t tell me much…” He mumbled. “She says I’m just a pup”

The wind blew my hair across my face and I didn’t bother to push it away. I rested my elbows on my knees and looked out across the sea of green amongst the trees. “How did you meet Lupa” I asked.

There was a silence, that stretched for a moment. I looked over at the boy who was mere moments ago so happy and content perched on the edge of the rocks. And I felt my heart drop at the watery look in his eyes. “Jason…” I begin unsure, reaching out to him.

“I don’t remember...” He mumbled. “I…”

The sound of his voice so small and lost struck me. His lip trembled, the small scar that rested there along with it. My hand fell to his back and quickly before I could react, he shuffled over and buried himself against my side.

I blinked and slowly wrapped my arm around him squeezing him softly. I couldn’t remember the last time I had hugged someone like this… maybe when Mangus had fallen when we were playing in Uncle Rudolf’s study. I remember hugging him and telling him to stop being a big baby… for some reason I wasn’t sure that would work out too well in this situation.

“Sister…” He sniffed into my collar bone. “I miss my sister…”

My heart couldn’t have hurt more for this kid. The way he said it, like he had been holding it in for so long.

“I’m sorry…” I mumbled. “I’m so sorry…”

Part of me felt enraged… why wasn’t this boy with his sister why was he being raised by a pack of wolves in the middle of the woods… why… why was everything so messed up and strange.

The feeling of normality and comfort earlier felt bitter and unsettling. Why was any of this happening to us… surely our parents these un-named gods wouldn’t have just left us to survive out here in this strange world like this… Jason was just a kid he… I was just a kid.

“I-I miss my brothers too” I found myself saying. Jason sniffed in my arms. I felt small as I allowed myself to say the thing I had been avoiding since that first night on the streets in Richmond. “I want to go home; I shouldn’t have left”

There was a silence as I let my own admission sink in. I did miss my brothers… I missed their cute chubby cheeks and giggles when they smashed up their food, I missed that I probably wouldn’t hear that sound again. I missed my bed, my room… the warm cosy living room couch and the annoying buzz of my dad’s coffee machine I heard every morning at breakfast.

I was so lost in the memories of all the things I yearned for I almost missed Jason’s question. “Why did you leave?”

Blinking back my own tears I hadn’t known had begun to form in my eyes, I looked down at him, his big blue eyes were looking at me worriedly, with such innocent concern. I felt more selfish than I had ever felt in my life. I could remember the things I missed; I knew how I had ended up here… he didn’t…

The words seemed lost on me… why would I say to him… “They’re better off without me…” is what I found myself saying. “I didn’t fit in”

It sounded stupid when I said it out loud… like an overdramatic child who had threw a tantrum…

“…’Cause your special”

I blinked.

Jason rubbed his eyes. “Your special like me, and were going to a place that is for special people to do special things”

For a moment I let what he said sink in. It must have been the longest sentence I had heard the boy say, his speech was a little slow, I suppose a by-product of being raised around animals and away from people for so long. I looked over at him, he was trying to rub the red from his eyes. I found myself smiling softly.

This kid was just as messed up as I was… but he was here… alive and so was I. Together we were on our way to a place for people like us. He understood every weird monster, and I understood every lonely lost thought he had… we were the same.

“We’ll do special things for special people together” I said. Holding out my pinkie finger the way my Aunt Nat had when she slipped me an extra candy bar at family gatherings. “Promise”

Jason’s smile was warmer than a million stolen sweaters.


End file.
